Hidden Passion
by HayleyComet
Summary: During a long-awaited visit from Link, Ruto leads him to the Zoras most precious items and gifts him with one. A special personal item that will turn him into a Zora. The best friends eventually work out some missunderstood feelings between them. One-Shot


This was written partly for **ZeldaLover29**'s contest, and partly because I just wanted to ^_^

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**Everyone who wishes to participate must write a one-shot about LoZ _friendship_. You can have a 'Romantic' theme, or a 'humour' theme, but there must be NO CHARACTER BASHING!**

**Guidelines:**

~Must be a one-shot

~No pairing/character bashing

~Grammar/spelling must be sufficient.

~It must be 500 words or more.

~It has to be LoZ

~You have to enjoy it. This shouldn't be a chore. =)

Ooh, by the way they are both around fifteen, not twelve, sorry if it confuses you because I don't exactly mention it.

-:HayleyComet

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**Hidden Passion**

Te Amo - I Love You

"Hey, Princess!" Link yelled, running along the cool stone walkway that led up to the throne room. "Oops, sorry your highness, is Ruto free?" King Zora smiled weakly and nodded his head.

"Off you go, then." He motioned to the bored looking princess and leaned back in his chair.

"Yess!" she whispered to herself, jumping up and racing out of the throne room. "Oh my gosh, thank you, Link!" she yelled, tackling him into a hug. "That meeting was soo boring!"

Link laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her around.

"I've missed you, Ru-Ru!" he grinned, using his old nickname for her.

"Yeah," she snorted at the reminder. "Its been way too long." she looped her arm through his and started pulling him away from the throne room, back down toward the main pool. Just as they passed the shop, Link paused.

"Hey, now that I'm here, I've been meaning to buy a Zora tunic, just in case I ever need one..." he trailed off as Ruto ignored him and dragged him further and further away from the shop. "No? Well, I suppose it can wait..." he muttered when they reached the cool, sparkling pool of water.

Giggling, Ruto pushed him in. He tumbled in backwards and frantically wheeled his arms, trying to regain his balance. It was no use, and he fell into the water with a humongous splash, sinking to the bottom of the pool.

Ruto fell over, clutching her stomach as she laughed at the expression on his face.

"Awww, are you a little bit wet?" she mocked in a baby voice as he emerged from the depths of the water, spouting out water.

"Well, yeah." he snorted sarcastically, but then a mischievous grin came across his face. "And so are you!" he yelled, inwardly laughing at her shocked expression and gripping her by the hand. Before she could react, he yanked hard, sending her tumbling down into the sparkling pool.

She squealed just before she hit the water and raised her arm to cover her face to stop the water splashing into her eyes. Bursting through the surface of the water, she rolled her eyes and shook her head, grinning.

"Come on, I wanna show you something!" she laughed, grabbing Link's hand and towing him toward the huge waterfall. Diving just in front of it, she swam to the bottom of the pool and forward slightly, then back up again so that they were behind the falling water. Link shook his head and wrung his hat out as they climbed up onto the ledge. "It's behind here!" Ruto told him, pushing the top of the far wall in the small alcove.

There was a grating sound as she struggled, but Link helped her and the wall pivoted out, leaving a gap large enough to crawl through. Ruto ducked under it, and Link followed, gently releasing it so that it swung quietly shut. On the other side, Princess Ruto heaved a heavy wooden bar across the top to lock it and grabbed Link's hand again, pulling him towards the back of the tiny room that looked suspiciously like a cupboard.

"Hey, Ru-Ru, why are we here?" Link asked, leaning against the small wall.

"Shush!" Ruto whispered, placing her finger over his lips. "Hold on tight!" she laughed, kicking the wall in a specific spot. The floor beneath them vanished, and with a little squeal, the two disappeared beneath the floor.

"Jeez, Ruto! How many secret passageways has your family got?" Link asked as they hit the floor of the next room.

The room was a smooth, stone chamber. It was dimly lit by countless blue flames, and had diamonds scattered around the floor, catching the light and creating rainbows.

Ruto ignored his question and dragged him to a slightly raised platform, climbing the steps quickly. When the reached the top, Link gasped. Hordes of treasure, possibly more than the Gerudo thieves had 'acquired', was laid out in front of them. Ruto ignored this and pulled him to the back of the room, to a small chest.

Raising the lid, she pulled out a glistening Zora scale. It was pearly white and ocean blue, silver was threaded throughout it, glinting in the blue lights.

"This has been handed down from generation to generation, it is one of our most prized possessions. Every year, for twenty years, the Zora princess must donate a small scale to the chest, and over the years, they will merge into a single scale." she placed it back into the box and picked up another, slightly smaller one. "This is mine."

It was pure white with hints of turquoise and gold, and had a pearly sheen. "We are to give it to the one we will court. But, alas, I will not. There is only one person each Zora is destined to love, and mine is taken. Absolutely smitten with another. I guess that I am the wrong kind of princess." she sighed.

Link glanced at her and back to the scale, shaking his head slightly. "Each scale has certain magical properties." She continued after a short pause. "This will partially transform anyone into a Zora for as long as they wear it." Link pulled her into a comforting hug, seeing her so sad made him upset.

Link had known of hus love for Princess Ruto for a while now, though he had kept it hidden. He knew that no Hylian could marry a Zora, especially not a princess. Whoever it was she was destined to be with was a lucky man for sure. Or, Zora, should he say.

"Well, they're lucky, who ever they are." Link muttered into her back. She looked up at him with shock in her eyes.

"Oh, thank you, Link!" she breathed. "Here, have this, I'm sure it will be of more use that a stupid Zora tunic!" she exclaimed.

"I, I'm not... Are you sure?" Link asked hesitantly.

"Of course I am, silly!" she laughed weakly, handing him the scale and closing the lid of the chest. Link took the scale and, on instinct, pressed it to his heart.

Ruto watched Link carefully as he started to change. His skin turned a light hue of blue, and his clothes and weapons melted into his skin. Fins extended from his arms and waist, and his toes webbed together. His hat turned to a bright Saphire blue colour, and the tip of it morphed into a tail. The scale seemed to grow into his skin, shining over it.

"But... you, I..." she trailed off, raising her hands to her mouth.

"Ru-Ru, what is it?" Link asked soothingly. She shook her head and motioned for him to follow her.

"Just... come on." she sighed, leading Link through the wall in the back of the room and into the bottom of the main pool in Zora's Domain. He laughed as the sensation of water flowing through him reached him. Ruto took a deep breath and held his hand again, swimming with him to the small opening that led to Lake Hylia.

..::~*~::..

Time passed, and the two sat on the small island, dangling their feet in the cool water and gazing at the temple below them. Link breathed slowly and watched the rippling sliver of moon on the inky black water surface.

"Ru-Ru?" Link asked hesitantly.

"Mmmmmm?" She answered absently.

"Why did you look so shocked earlier?" Her head snapped up, and she blinked in shock. Biting her lip, she hesitantly answered.

"I was just surprised, that's all." She nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, but _why _though? You knew what was going to happen." He puzzled.

"See, the thing is, you transformed almost fully. The only way to do that is to..." she trailed off. Link smiled encoouragingly and nudged her gently. "Is to... _love the one who gave it to you._" she whispered.

Pressing his lips together, Link turned to look at her slowly.

In that one glance, he saw how beautiful she was. How kind, loving, innocent she was. How much he loved her. He admired everything about her, from her confidence to the way her blue skin shimmered luminescent in the dim light of the moon. Slowly, carefully, he nodded his head.

"Oh!" Ruto gasped quietly. "But... I... You love Zelda!" she accused, sitting up straight.

"No, silly. How could I, when I'm completely devoted to you! And as you said, I changed almost completely after using the scale. Why is it you doubt me so much?" Link exclaimed, putting his hands on her shoulders. She looked down and threaded her fingers together, twisting them around.

"I... I don't know..." she glanced at his face for a moment, then looked back down at her hands.

Link placed his hands under her chin and turned her head to face him.

"I _do_ love you, Princess, why can't you see that?" He pleaded, gazing into her eyes.

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

Link gazed into her eyes and caressed her cheek, then leant over and softly pressed his lips to hers. She moved her body closer, trying to prolong the kiss. After a while, Link pulled away.

"You have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that." He whispered into her ear. She blinked her sparkling eyes and leaned in.

"Oh, I think I do..." she crooned sweetly. This time it was her that made the first move. She covered Link's lips with hers and pushed herself closer to him. He ran his tongue across her lips and parted his mouth slightly. She opened hers fully and tentatively touched her tongue to Links.

Link sighed when her sweet breath blew into his mouth and gripped her by the waist, gently lowering them down so that she was lying on top of him. He growled, his chest rumbling as she ran her hands delicately over the muscled planes of his chest.

She moved her hands to the ground below him and dropped herself lower onto him, pausing their kiss to look at him. He blinked slowly, and a large smile crept across his face. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he clutched her closely to him and buried his face in her shoulder, rolling over so there was no air between the two.

Ruto laughed, smiling down at the boy holding her so closely and rested her head on his, blissfully, peacefully.

Trailing her fingers down his back, she smiled into his head and dug them in his sensitive spot, promoting a laugh from Link.

She giggled and rolled them off the edge of the grassy island. The two plunged into the icy water, sinking deep below the surface.

Link blinked once and his eyes cleared, and he was able to admire the way the filtered moonlight illuminated the light speckles on her skin.

The water settled around them like a blanket, trapping them in a hazy bubble. He again lowered his mouth onto hers, capturing her lips in a passionate kiss that left her breathless. She arched her back and sighed happily, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she pulled herself flush against him, fevered skin meeting fevered skin.

Link broke away from the kiss, looking into the shiny eyes of Ruto and gasped "I love you, Ru-Ru."

Ruto smiled happily. "I love you too Link..." she wrapped her legs around his hips and watched as his face faded into darkness, the moonlight dimming as they gradually floated down to the seabed. She locked her lips onto his and the water heated around them, cushioning them in their passion.

The clouds rolled over the moon, but the teenagers paid it no heed, already oblivious in each others embrace.

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**You can imagine the ending any way you please ;) I really hope you enjoyed reading this story, I definitely enjoyed writing it, even though this is the fourth time! I can see a massive difference between my first write up and this one, and I'm happy to say that that one is without a doubt deleted.**

**The song I listened to for this particular chapter was 'Te Amo' by Rihanna. Beautiful song :)**

**Anyway, Review, people.**

(Update #1: Thanks to a review by Smash-the-Elder, I have realised that I accidentally switched the POV from 3rd person to Link's POV. I have fixed this error, keeping it 3rd person untill the scene by Lake Hylia, whereby I tell you that the POV is being switched.)

(Update #2: I have now found the time to go back and re-write it all in a third person point of view, as I am dissatisfied by how it has turned out thanks to the POV switch. I feel that as there is not enough content to the chapter it just confuses the story, so... I hope you enjoy the revised chapter! Ohh, and, by the way, they are both around fourteen, fifteen, not twelve. Sorry about that.)

(Update #3): Yes, yet another update from me! I realise that this was written waaaay back in 2010, and hence needs an overhaul! {July 2012}


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